artist: Dave Marquez, David Lafuente, Sara Pichelli, Mark Brooks, Mark Bagley
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| via Inside Pulse |
When it started, Ultimate Spider-Man was a remarkably long-lived partnership between Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley that lasted a hundred-and-eleven straight issues (just breaking the Stan Lee-Jack Kirby streak in the original Fantastic Four). Bagley returned for a number of additional issues, but soon gave way to other signature collaborators in Bendis's remarkable (and most and only remarkable Ultimate) run with this alternate Spider-Man saga.
Sara Pichelli has fifteen previous appearances, David Lafuente sixteen. The only one missing from this reunion is Stuart Immonen, who logged in twenty-three issues but is perhaps tied up with another Bendis collaboration at the moment, All-New X-Men (which is kind of too bad).
David Marquez, it should be noted, is the one going forward.
Such are the other vagaries of this run that it celebrates a different Spider-Man than the one that's currently on record, Miles Morales, the ethnically diverse wunderkind who has been building his own legacy (and stars in the latest relaunch, Miles Morales: Ultimate Spider-Man). The one you may know better, obviously, would be Peter Parker. Except he's been dead since the Ultimatum event that basically radically broke the Ultimate line from the mainline Marvel universe (even more so, anyway).
Bendis gets a lot of credit as far as his worth to Marvel in general is concerned, but he's rarely considered to be as good a writer as he is dependable. Most of what you'll hear critically about him isn't all that flattering. I've been somewhat guilty of that. I haven't read him nearly as much as his DC rivals Geoff Johns and Grant Morrison, but he's as important as either of them, and his legacy is equally comparable. The thing he has on them is his dedication to this title, no matter what form it takes.
Every now and then, I try to make good and check in on what he's been doing, and this seemed like a perfect opportunity. Once again Bendis pleasantly surprises me. While Morales certainly gets the short straw, Parker's enduring legacy is greatly exhibited, everything he accomplished just in these adventures, the remarkable supporting cast that surrounded him.
A series of monologues reveals how each of these characters still remember Peter. In a lot of ways, this is almost an ideal Spider-Man comic. Peter Parker dead but living in the memories of those he left behind, with someone else struggling to follow in his footsteps (it should be noted that left out of the celebration numbers is a tie-in comic between Miles Morales and the "616" Peter Parker, Spider-Men, which is referenced here). Peter, another boy who never grew up, which has certainly been a matter of some controversy elsewhere. Bendis has been making as strong an argument as anyone ever has that Marvel could weather a reboot and be the better for it, although perhaps no one could do it as well as he has.
Some of the art fails to distinguish characters from each other (notably dueling brunettes). Maybe this is a problem for someone who hasn't been following the whole thing. It doesn't really matter, though. The impact is still considerable. Unlike, say, Superior Spider-Man #30, you don't really have to have read anything else to fully enjoy and appreciate the proceedings.
If you've never read a single issue, just to make it clear, this would be a good place to start.
If you've never read a single issue, just to make it clear, this would be a good place to start.
I read the first volumes of "Ultimate" Spider-Man both with Peter Parker and Miles Morales. Sometimes it seems like Bendis is on every Marvel title. Or at least he probably has been at one point.
ReplyDeleteHe and Marvel have tried their best to make that a reality.
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